Chapter 49.2

“What about Rhea?”

Karen asked. Haruki shook his head.

Surely not. However, he still had to check.

His finger shook as he swiped again.

And then…

Rhea(1) Gender: Female

Skill Point: 4

Class: Dual Wielding Leaf Demon

Divine Protection: Earth One<???>NEW

-Vitality

Stamina 0

Natural Recovery 0

-Strength

Strength 2

-Agility

Quickness 1

Dexterity 2

-Technique

Weapon mastery

Throwing 3

-Intuition

Detection 1

-Special

Treasure Chest 2

Divine Protection 1 NEW

“…It’s there.”

“…It really is.”

Shocking.

So even a monster could receive Divine Protection.

Maybe Rhea was just special.

Or the monsters on the center layer also had Divine Protection.

If it was the latter, then things would get very dangerous for them.

“Still…earth, huh?”

Rhea started to pat Haruki on the shoulder.

Don’t feel too bad. That’s what it sounded like she was saying.

Were those the words of someone who stood much higher than him, with their acquired ‘earth’?

Ahhh.

The sun was blinding today as well…

Though, they were underground.

＊

[The Road to Becoming a Noticeable Being]

-We finally reached the center layer!-

Hello, it’s Air(^o^)

Today, we finally beat the 9th floor boss and reached the center layer!

I’m not sure if the road here was long, or if it was over all too soon…

Regardless, I am filled with emotion just thinking about it. (>_<)

The center layer…it’s amazing.(^_^;)

Just like it said on the WIKI, it’s like being on the surface, even though you are underground.

How far does this sky go…

What if it connects to a different dungeon?

While we are officially mid-rank Adventurers now, we only just arrived here.

So I have to get much stronger so that I can reach the deepest part! (>_<)

I worked hard leveling up today as well!

Now, have a taken one step closer to a future of having a real presence? Maybe?

The day after he made the blog post.

Haruki received a single message.

“Ohh!?”

When Haruki saw the words, ‘You have a new message’ appear on his management screen, he raised his fist in the air in triumph.

Maybe…

Maybe this meant his presence had become stronger, now that he was a mid-ranking Adventurer?

Was this because of his Divine Protection?

He didn’t know what Cloth One was, but still!

“HAAAAAAA!!”

He loudly took in a deep breath.

What could it be?

His heart was racing.

Haruki made up his mind and opened the message.

The sender was Kagemitsu.

“Huh!?”

It was so unexpected that he raised his voice in surprise.

This wasn’t something as small as the name being familiar to him.

This was the ranker that continued to break the records for the highest floor reached in Chikaho while Masatsugu was on an expedition.

When it came to Hokkaido, the most famous things were bears, crabs, and Kagemitsu! And that was not an exaggeration. That’s how famous he was to Adventurers.

Besides, he really stuck out!

He was the opposite of Haruki and had a really strong presence.

And it was this Kagemitsu that had sent him a message.

(Did I do something wrong?)

Haruki’s hands shook and sweat appeared on his forehead.

[Support Request]

‘I would like to talk to you through chat.’

That was the entire message from Kagemitsu.

Aside from that, there was a URL to the chat room and a password.

“What does he mean by ‘support request’?”

While Haruki had hopes and dreams, he wasn’t so conceited as to forget reality.

Yes, he had reached the center layer. But that didn’t mean he was good enough to be called in to support a ranker.

Mid-rank Adventurers were about 10% of all Adventurers, but there were hundreds of thousands of Adventurers. He didn’t know the exact numbers, but there were at least a hundred Mid-rankers in Hokkaido.

Besides, the majority of Adventurers were just doing it as a hobby.

It was for food or money. They weren’t aiming to complete the dungeons.

So while mid-rank Adventurers were only 10%, there were even less when you restricted it to Adventurers whose goal was to conquer.

In other words, being Mid-rank didn’t automatically mean that you were good.

(Why would he choose me among all those other Adventurers?)

Haruki tilted his head.

However, he could not think of a good reason.

First, he replied to the message and then entered the chat room.

[Kagemitsu’s Room *locked]

System Message: Air has entered the chatroom.

System Message: Kagemitsu has entered the chatroom.

Air: Hello.

Kagemitsu: Sorry to call you out like this.

Air: Not at all. Did something happen?

Kagemitsu: Do you know that a monster parade started in the Chikaho center layer?

Air: This is the first time I’m hearing about it!

Air: Which floor?

Kagemitsu: The 10th.

Kagetmitsu: And I want to introduce you to the hunting party.

Air: Why me?

Kagemitsu: I heard a rumor that you annihilated a monster parade.

Kagemitsu: Also, you’re a mid-rank Adventurer.

Air: I only just became one recently.

Air: How do you know I’m not too weak?

Kagemitsu: We won’t know until you try.

Kagemitsu: However, if this continues, there will be too many monsters, and it will start a stampede.

Air: I heard that monster parades disappear after enough time has passed?

Kagemitsu: Usually, yes.

Kagemitsu: But I think things are different this time.

Kagemitsu: There are rare types inside of the monster parade.

Air: That’s why you think it will turn into a stampede?

Kagemitsu: It’s possible.

Haruki looked at his monitor and groaned.

Air: You’ve explored up to the 24th floor, right?

Kagemitsu: Yeah.

Air: Then can’t you do something about a 10th floor monster parade? Even if it’s just brute force?

There was one reason that monster parades were avoided.

They were a bad fit.

In monster parades, monsters kept pushing forward one after another.

They would jump over the bodies of the dead and close in on you.

And if that happened, then popular weapons such as greatswords and spears could not be used to the best of their ability.

It was the same with the popular bow. If you encountered a monster parade, you would run out of arrows quickly.

Even if you were an Adventurer who could kill countless monsters, it was always difficult to fight under the distinct circumstances that were a monster parade.

If the difference in strength between you and the monsters was four or five floors, then you would likely be killed, just like Shikama.

However, if there were at least ten floors between you, you should be able to get through. Even if it was by brute force. That is what Haruki thought.

However…

Kagemitsu: We tried doing that, but it was no good.

Kagemitsu rejected the notion.

Air: Why was that?

Kagemitsu: It’s because of the rare types.

Kagemitsu: And by rare types, I mean demi-humans. There are advanced Lizardmen.

Kagemitsu: They are normal monsters on the 30th layer.

Air: Woah…

Just like in the chat, Haruki muttered allowed as he stared at his monitor.

It was said that normal monsters were about the same strength as the boss that is five floors below.

So a normal monster on the 10th floor was just as strong as a boss on the 5th floor.

If you could defeat the 5th floor boss, then you could defeat normal monsters on the 10th floor.

And so the Lizardmen of the 30th floor were just as powerful as the 25th floor boss.

They would then be quite difficult for Kagemitsu, who worked on the 24th floor.

Furthermore, as they had to deal with 10th floor monsters at the same time during the monster parade, it was nearly impossible to fight properly.

Air: It seems even less likely that I will be able to do anything.

Kagemitsu: I wouldn’t ask you to deal with the rare types.

Kagemitsu: I want you to do deal with the monster parade while we lure away the rare types.

Would that be possible then?

Haruki thought about it.

He still hadn’t fought the 10th floor monsters yet.

But he tried to calmly assess his own abilities.

It would probably be quite hard.

That was his conclusion as he began typing with the keyboard.

Air: I’m sorry. But I don’t think I’m strong enough.

Kagemitsu: I see. That’s too bad.

Kagemitsu: You’d get a lot of attention by just being a part of it.

In that instant…

Haruki stood up loudly from his chair and started hitting the keyboard so hard that it nearly broke.

Air: I will do it!

Air: Let me do it!!

And like that, it was decided that Haruki would participate in the hunting party that would take down the 10th floor monster parade.